I read a lot of mysteries. Some are mediocre — I abandon the ones that are too rubbish — while others are good, or even excellent.

I’ve now developed for myself a list of authors whose mysteries I will always read.

Note: I read on Kindle and can’t bring myself to pay more than ~US$6 for a book unless there is some utterly compelling reason that works for me. That quite possibly excludes some stunningly good authors and some books by authors I know I enjoy. This list also excludes authors whose works I read on paper decades ago.

As a lesbian feminist I very much prefer books by female authors and that feature women, preferably lesbians, in lead roles. I extend flexibility to marginalised groups such as non-binary, non- US or UK authors, and so on.

Even on my ‘always read’ list I might choose to skip a particular book if the subject matter doesn’t appeal — a particularly gory murder, serial killers, lots of violence against women (or animals).

Always check to see if there’s a box set as the price is usually better than buying individual books, and if you get a sample first, the sample is longer.

This (to me) surprisingly long list comes from my record of books I’ve bought from Kindle and where I’m highly likely to just preorder from an author or buy when available. A couple of authors I started reading before I could get the books on Kindle.

It looks like occasionally an author’s had a bit of a dud mid-series and I’ve faltered on buying. Some of these authors have other series I don’t enjoy or that simply aren’t my thing.

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1. Amy Vansant: The Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller Series (3 books)
2. Anne Shillolo: DC Holly Towns Murder Mystery series (6 books)
3. Cari Hunter: The Dark Peak series (3 books) and others
4. Cheri Baker: Kat Voyzey Mysteries (4 books), Ellie Tappet Cruise Ship Mysteries (6 books), Butterfly Island Mysteries (3 books)
5. Cheryl A Head: Charlie Mack Motown Mystery series (6 books)
6. Dana Stabenow: Kate Shugak Novels (20 books), The Liam Campbell Mysteries (5 books), and others
7. Dawn Brookes: Rachel Prince Mysteries (11 books)
8. Elizabeth Gunn: Detective Sarah Burke mystery and suspense series (7 books)
9. Gretta Mulrooney: Tyrone Swift Detective (9 books) and others
10. Jana DeLeon: Miss Fortune Mystery series (22 books)
11. Joy Ellis: DI Nikki Galena Series (13 books)
12. Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Retrieval Artist Universe series (15 books), plus many many other works
13. Leigh Mayberry: Lost in Alaska series (7 books) (seems I missed a couple after one disappointing book — I’m putting that right.)
14. Margaret Mizushima: Timber Creek K–9 Mystery series (8 books) (I see the latest, available for Kindle preorder is a stunning $23. No way I’ll pay that! This series also has a terrible record of not releasing for purchase in Aotearoa New Zealand until 12 months or so after publication, which I think should be a crime in itself. )
15. Marion Todd: Detective Clare Mackay series (6 books)
16. Maureen Carter: DI Sarah Quinn Mystery series (5 books)
17. Mia Gold: Ruby Steele Mystery series (4 books)
18. Misty Evans, Adrienne Giordano: Schock Sisters Private Investigator Mystery series (3 books)
19. Nevada Barr: Anna Pigeon Mysteries series (19 books)
20. Paula Lennon: Detectives Preddy & Harris series (3 books)

Why does @Cheri get a link when no-one else does? Because she’s a Micro.Blog buddy! 😆

And speaking of books before Kindle, my exception is Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone series, where I was able to find many in used book shops. Great series!